On February 5th, the Daily Mail, a newspaper from Great Britain, published an article online about Rob Lowe, the actor currently slated to portray Ulysses S. Grant in the upcoming To Appomattox/Grant vs. Lee miniseries. The article mainly covers his recent surfing expedition, and his recent tweets about the Super Bowl. However, the article does include information about his upcoming acting roles. The last few lines of the article talk about the miniseries, and offer what many could consider a major announcement. The last few lines read:

[Lowe] is most excited about his ‘dream project,’ a Ulysses S. Grant miniseries called To Appomattox, which is awaiting the green light from Sony and Reelz.

“It’s something I’ve been attached to and wanting to do for a couple of years now,” said Lowe.

“[Grant] is a very underserved American hero and complicated, dark, flawed. When he died, America gave him the largest public funeral this country had ever seen. He saved the Union. I’m hopeful that’ll happen.”

So, according to this article, it appears that Reelz Channel is the network which will air the miniseries, which will be produced by the television division of Sony Entertainment. However, until an official announcement comes from Sony Pictures Television and Reelz Channel, take this information with a grain of salt. When the official announcement does come from the network, production company and production team, it will be announced here.

Carroll Community College in Maryland, which currently lists upcoming Civil War programs on their website, has listed historian and Grant vs. Lee historical adviser J.D. Petruzzi. In his contributions section, the page states:

He has appeared in Civil War documentaries that have aired on PBS and the History Channel, and is the Historical and Technical Advisor for a Civil War miniseries, “To Appomattox,” which will air on Reelz Channel.

While this is still unofficial, this does seem to corroborate the Daily Mail article. But until the official announcement is made, take this info as “rumor” for now. The Carroll Community College Civil War agendas page can be found here.

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About Steven Hancock

I am an avid student of American and World History, with a particular interest in the American Civil War. I am currently a student at American Public University, working toward a Master's Degree in United States History. I am also a Civil War Reenactor, donning the uniform of the common Union and Confederate soldier at reenactments throughout the year.

Oh jeez if that turns out to be true then that’s definitely “career-suicide”, so to speak!!! As a Cable TV customer i am already well aware that Reelz is not available to cable customers and so MILLIONS (20+ with MY cable TV company – and that’s only ONE company of many!) of viewers would miss out on seeing this!!! According to recent stats, more customers have cable than satellite so this would be a BIG MISTAKE if they air this on a non-cable channel. Like you said, i’m gonna take this with a pinch of salt but i’m still gonna hope and pray that this doesn’t come true for my sake and for the sake of millions of others…

You’re one of the lucky ones then. The fact remains that it isn’t available through my provider in my area, and so a lot of people could potentially miss out on seeing this. I actually did some research and it’s only available in ONE CITY in my state on cable….so yeah, really far-reaching.

As much as I’m looking forward to this production, the possibility of The Reelz Channel picking up the miniseries has me concerned.

Unlike HBO, Showtime, Encore or Starz, I’m fairly certain you can get away with depicting only so much on Reelz. I fear it’s going to have a “Gettysburg/Gods and Generals” feel to it, with soldiers remaining in one piece after being hit with canister shot from ten yards away or simply wincing in pain after taking a minie ball to the knee cap. In short, the true horrors and realities of war be damned, keeping the audience sheltered and comfortable will be key. Dumbing down historical accuracy so to speak.

For the record, I’ve liked just about everything I’ve read up to this point pertaining to the series – from the historical advisors to the director to the casting. I don’t pretend to be a Hollywood producer/director nor I do feel the need to pick apart every single aspect of the series before viewing the final product. Could I possibly be overreacting or is it a legitimate concern? I don’t know. I am certain of one thing, this most recent “major announcement” has taken the wind out of my sails to a degree and a strong gust would be welcomed.

Don’t worry, Frank. The production team will work hard to make sure the show is as historically accurate as possible, and will still show the horrors of combat. But remember that this series is not a battle study. It is mainly a character study of the historical figures, such as Grant, Lee, Sherman, Longstreet and Lincoln, against the backdrop of the war. But where the war is shown, the producers will strive to make it as realistic as possible.

As you know (I know you’ve talked with MFB about this topic) Production can’t confirm or deny what network may be involved or not. As for that Carroll Community College bio blurb, they got that information from the internet somewhere. It could have easily have said HBO, because you still (mistakenly) see that on many websites. That type of bio information is usually gleaned from the internet, Amazon, and sometimes some info will come from my publicist (who does not, by the way, have any information about the network). I give a fair number of talks, lectures, and tours each year, and some of the bio information I end up seeing is both right and wrong.

Once the network decides to release any information then something can be confirmed – until then they’re just rumors. Hopefully something will be able to be released very soon.

Although not officially associated with the "To Appomattox" miniseries in any capacity, this blog was created in 2011 with the blessing of Michael Frost Beckner, the writer and executive producer for the series. Our goal is to present visitors to our blog with the latest news on the upcoming limited series, along with opinion pieces, and historical articles to highlight the people and events of the American Civil War as presented in "To Appomattox."

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